Dynamically Generated Local Virtual Events

This application is a continuation of co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 17/903,929, filed on Sep. 6, 2022, which is hereby incorporated by reference.

The subject matter described relates generally to location-based games, and, in particular, to dynamically generating local virtual events for similarly-located players in a location-based game.

Location-based games use the real world as their geography. Parallel reality games are a type of location-based game that use a virtual world that parallels the real-world geography. Players can interact and perform various game objectives in the parallel virtual world by navigating and performing actions in the real world. When actions are primarily undertaken with reference to the virtual world, the virtual world can act as a barrier to players experiencing the virtual world as truly parallel to the real world. Rather, players may experience the real and virtual worlds as distinct and relatively unconnected. This is especially true when players playing in the same physical locations in the real world do not experience adequate communal interaction with the similar-located players in the virtual world. Such experiences may decrease player engagement over time.

This disclosure pertains to increasing player engagement in a parallel reality game. Techniques disclosed herein look to increase player engagement by incorporating into the user experience, spontaneous viral moments (e.g., local virtual events, implicit social events) that a player may choose to participate in during game play. The local virtual events may be of different types and may have respective different game designs, corresponding objectives and rules, and access-controlled game content. The local virtual events may be automatically triggered during game play based on one or more corresponding predetermined starting conditions being met. From the user's perspective, the viral moments may be spontaneous, since the starting conditions that trigger the viral moments may be unknown to the user. The chance of such spontaneous viral moments occurring during game play may increase the level of engagement or interest of the player in the parallel reality game and increase the amount of time the player wishes to spend playing the parallel reality game.

The local virtual events may be of different types and may have corresponding game designs respectively specifying its game objectives and game rules, and may have corresponding exclusive (access-controlled) game content. Further, each type of local virtual event may have a corresponding predetermined starting condition and a corresponding predetermined ending condition. The conditions may specify, e.g., where, when, and how often the specified type of local virtual event may be triggered, how long it may last, its relative rarity of occurrence, how often players can participate in the event, and the like. For example, the predetermined starting condition for triggering a given type of local virtual event may specify that a number of active similarly-located players in a same physical location in the real world (e.g., a number of active player devices within a predetermined real-world area corresponding to a predetermined virtual element and within a predetermined range from the virtual element) must at least be a predetermined number. As another example, the predetermined starting condition may specify that the predetermined number of active players in the predetermined area must complete predetermined in-game actions (e.g., each player captures a predetermined number of virtual items or objects; prerequisite game action), and the like. The predetermined ending condition may specify a time duration for the local virtual event (e.g., 30 minutes). One type of local virtual event may be a shared AR session where the similarly-located players in the same physical location in the real world may get the opportunity to spontaneously engage in an organized community game (e.g., live game actions associated with a particular geographic location) and play together or against each other as one or more teams or factions.

The local virtual events may be implicit. That is, unbeknownst to the similarly-located players playing their respective (group or individual) game sessions under respective game designs (e.g., first set of one or more game designs), the predetermined starting condition for a given local virtual event may become satisfied (e.g., based on number of active players in the local area, number of active players in the local area completing predetermined virtual in-game actions, and the like). And as a result, the identified number of similarly-located players may get notifications inviting them to join an implicit social event that is about to start and indicating a time at which the event is going to start. The notification may further specify the game objectives (e.g., corresponding to a second game design) of the implicit social event. In some embodiments, in response to the predetermined starting condition for the given local virtual event being satisfied, the implicit social event may start automatically (e.g., instantly) without a notification and the game mechanics for the identified number of similarly-located players (that caused the event to be triggered) may automatically be adjusted based on the second game design (e.g., the identified numbers of similarly-located players may automatically obtain access to access-controlled content associated with the local virtual event)

During game play of the local virtual event, an achievement tracker may be presented to each of the similarly-located players of the implicit social event. The achievement tracker may present individual or collective achievement data based on the game objectives of the implicit social event. At the end of the implicit social event, the game design (e.g., game objectives, game rules) for each of the similarly-located players of the local virtual event may revert back to its previous state that existed prior to the start of the local virtual event. Thus, by incorporating into the user experience, spontaneous viral moments of organized community game actions or activities for players that happen to be similarly-located in the real-world at a given point in time, awareness of the currently similarly-located player community in the real-world can be increased, and a more “real” parallel reality (e.g., AR, VR) game experience can be achieved.

In one embodiment, a computer-implemented method includes a step of providing, by a game server, game data of a location-based game to a plurality of client devices based on a first game design. The method further includes a step of receiving first activity data associated with the location-based game from the plurality of client devices based on the first game design. In addition, the method includes a step of determining whether the first activity data from the plurality of client devices meets a predetermined starting condition associated with a local virtual event. Still further, the method includes a step of starting the local virtual event for the plurality of client devices in response to determining that the first activity data meets the predetermined starting condition. And still further, the method includes a step of providing, by the game server, game data based on the local virtual event to the plurality of client devices. The local virtual event may have a second game design that is different from the first game design.

The figures and the following description describe certain embodiments by way of illustration only. One skilled in the art will recognize from the following description that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods may be employed without departing from the principles described. Wherever practicable, similar or like reference numbers are used in the figures to indicate similar or like functionality. Where elements share a common numeral followed by a different letter, this indicates the elements are similar or identical. A reference to the numeral alone generally refers to any one or any combination of such elements, unless the context indicates otherwise.

Various embodiments are described in the context of a parallel reality game that includes augmented reality content in a virtual world geography that parallels at least a portion of the real-world geography such that player movement and actions in the real-world affect actions in the virtual world. The subject matter described is applicable in other situations where dynamically generating a local virtual event (e.g., implicit social event) for similarly-located players in a location-based game based on predetermined conditions is desirable. In addition, the inherent flexibility of computer-based systems allows for a great variety of possible configurations, combinations, and divisions of tasks and functionality between and among the components of the system.

is a conceptual diagram of a virtual worldthat parallels the real world. The virtual worldcan act as the game board for players of a parallel reality game. As illustrated, the virtual worldincludes a geography that parallels the geography of the real world. In particular, a range of coordinates defining a geographic area or space in the real worldis mapped to a corresponding range of coordinates defining a virtual space in the virtual world. The range of coordinates in the real worldcan be associated with a town, neighborhood, city, campus, locale, a country, continent, the entire globe, or other geographic area. Each geographic coordinate in the range of geographic coordinates is mapped to a corresponding coordinate in a virtual space in the virtual world.

A player's position in the virtual worldcorresponds to the player's position in the real world. For instance, player A located at positionin the real worldhas a corresponding positionin the virtual world. Similarly, player B located at positionin the real worldhas a corresponding positionin the virtual world. As the players move about in a range of geographic coordinates in the real world, the players also move about in the range of coordinates defining the virtual space in the virtual world. In particular, a positioning system (e.g., a GPS system, a localization system, or both) associated with a mobile computing device carried by the player can be used to track a player's position as the player navigates the range of geographic coordinates in the real world. Data associated with the player's position in the real worldis used to update the player's position in the corresponding range of coordinates defining the virtual space in the virtual world. In this manner, players can navigate along a continuous track in the range of coordinates defining the virtual space in the virtual worldby simply traveling among the corresponding range of geographic coordinates in the real worldwithout having to check in or periodically update location information at specific discrete locations in the real world.

The location-based game can include multiple game designs (e.g., corresponding to games (e.g., multi-player organized community games), events or moments within games, and the like) each game design having corresponding game objectives and game rules, and controlling access to corresponding game content (e.g., virtual elements, virtual energy, virtual items, virtual objects). The game objectives require players to travel to or interact with various virtual elements or virtual objects scattered at various virtual locations in the virtual world, consistent with corresponding game rules of the game design. A player can travel to these virtual locations by traveling to the corresponding location of the virtual elements or objects in the real world. For instance, a positioning system can track the position of the player such that as the player navigates the real world, the player also navigates the parallel virtual world. The player can then interact with various virtual elements and objects at the specific location to achieve or perform one or more game objectives.

A game design's game objective may have players interacting with virtual elements(e.g., points of interest) located at various virtual locations in the virtual world. These virtual elementscan be linked to landmarks, geographic locations, or objects(e.g., waypoints) in the real world. The real-world landmarks or objectscan be works of art, monuments, buildings, businesses, libraries, museums, or other suitable real-world landmarks or objects. Interactions include capturing, claiming ownership of, using some virtual item, spending some virtual currency, etc. To capture these virtual elements, a player travels to the landmark or geographic locationslinked to the virtual elementsin the real world and performs any necessary interactions (as defined by the game's rules) with the virtual elementsin the virtual world. For example, player Amay have to travel to a landmarkin the real worldto interact with or capture a virtual elementlinked with that particular landmark. The interaction with the virtual elementcan require action in the real world, such as taking a photograph or verifying, obtaining, or capturing other information about the landmark or objectassociated with the virtual element.

Game objectives of the game design may require that players use one or more virtual items that are collected by the players in the location-based game. For instance, the players may travel the virtual worldseeking virtual items(e.g. weapons, creatures, power ups, or other items) that can be useful for completing game objectives. These virtual itemscan be found or collected by traveling to different locations in the real worldor by completing various actions in either the virtual worldor the real world(such as interacting with virtual elements, battling non-player characters or other players, or completing quests, etc.). In the example shown in, a player uses virtual itemsto capture one or more virtual elements. In particular, a player can deploy virtual itemsat locations in the virtual worldnear to or within the virtual elements. Deploying one or more virtual itemsin this manner can result in the capture of the virtual elementfor the player or for the team/faction of the player.

In one particular implementation, a player may have to gather virtual energy as part of the parallel reality game. Virtual energycan be scattered at different locations in the virtual world. A player can collect the virtual energyby traveling to (or within a threshold distance of) the location in the real worldthat corresponds to the location of the virtual energy in the virtual world. The virtual energycan be used to power virtual items or perform various game objectives in the game. A player that loses all virtual energymay be disconnected from the game or prevented from playing for a certain amount of time or until they have collected additional virtual energy.

According to aspects of the present disclosure, the parallel reality game can be a massive multi-player location-based game where every participant in the game shares the same virtual world. The players can be divided into separate teams or factions and can work together to achieve one or more game objectives, such as to capture or claim ownership of a virtual element. In this manner, the parallel reality game can intrinsically be a social game that encourages cooperation among players within the game. Players from opposing teams can work against each other (or sometime collaborate to achieve mutual objectives) during the parallel reality game. A player may use virtual items to attack or impede progress of players on opposing teams. In some cases, players are encouraged to congregate at real world locations for cooperative or interactive events in the parallel reality game. In these cases, the game server seeks to ensure players are indeed physically present and not spoofing their locations.

depicts one embodiment of a game interfacethat can be presented (e.g., on a player's smartphone) as part of the interface between the player and the virtual world. The game interfaceincludes a display windowthat can be used to display the virtual worldand various other aspects of the game, such as player positionand the locations of virtual elements, virtual items, and virtual energyin the virtual world. The user interfacecan also display other information, such as game data information, game communications, player information, client location verification instructions and other information associated with the game. For example, the user interface can display player information, such as player name, experience level, and other information. The user interfacecan include a menufor accessing various game settings and other information associated with the game. The user interfacecan also include a communications interfacethat enables communications between the game system and the player and between one or more players of the parallel reality game.

According to aspects of the present disclosure, a player can interact with the parallel reality game by carrying a client device around in the real world. For instance, a player can play the game by accessing an application associated with the parallel reality game on a smartphone and moving about in the real world with the smartphone. In this regard, it is not necessary for the player to continuously view a visual representation of the virtual world on a display screen in order to play the location-based game. As a result, the user interfacecan include non-visual elements that allow a user to interact with the game. For instance, the game interface can provide audible notifications to the player when the player is approaching a virtual element or object in the game or when an important event (e.g., implicit social event) happens nearby in the parallel reality game. In some embodiments, a player can control these audible notifications with audio control. Different types of audible notifications can be provided to the user depending on the type of virtual element or event. The audible notification can increase or decrease in frequency or volume depending on a player's proximity to a virtual element or object. Other non-visual notifications and signals can be provided to the user, such as a vibratory notification or other suitable notifications or signals.

The parallel reality game can have various features to enhance and encourage game play within the parallel reality game. For instance, players can accumulate a virtual currency or another virtual reward (e.g., virtual tokens, virtual points, virtual material resources, etc.) that can be used throughout the game (e.g., to purchase in-game items, to redeem other items, to craft items, etc.). Players can advance through various levels as the players complete one or more game objectives and gain experience within the game. Players may also be able to obtain enhanced “powers” or virtual items that can be used to complete game objectives within the game.

Those of ordinary skill in the art, using the disclosures provided, will appreciate that numerous game interface configurations and underlying functionalities are possible. The present disclosure is not intended to be limited to any one particular configuration unless it is explicitly stated to the contrary.

illustrates one embodiment of a networked computing environment. The networked computing environmentuses a client-server architecture, where a game servercommunicates with a client deviceover a networkto provide a parallel reality game to a player at the client device. The networked computing environmentalso may include other external systems such as sponsor/advertiser systems or business systems. Although only one client deviceis shown in, any number of client devicesor other external systems may be connected to the game serverover the network. Furthermore, the networked computing environmentmay contain different or additional elements and functionality may be distributed between the client deviceand the serverin different manners than described below.

The networked computing environmentprovides for the interaction of players in a virtual world having a geography that parallels the real world. In particular, a geographic area in the real world can be linked or mapped directly to a corresponding area in the virtual world. A player can move about in the virtual world by moving to various geographic locations in the real world. For instance, a player's position in the real world can be tracked and used to update the player's position in the virtual world. Typically, the player's position in the real world is determined by finding the location of a client devicethrough which the player is interacting with the virtual world and assuming the player is at the same (or approximately the same) location. For example, in various embodiments, the player may interact with a virtual element if the player's location in the real world is within a threshold distance (e.g., ten meters, twenty meters, etc.) of the real-world location that corresponds to the virtual location of the virtual element in the virtual world. For convenience, various embodiments are described with reference to “the player's location” but one of skill in the art will appreciate that such references may refer to the location of the player's client device.

A client devicecan be any portable computing device capable for use by a player to interface with the game server. For instance, a client deviceis preferably a portable wireless device that can be carried by a player, such as a smartphone, portable gaming device, augmented reality (AR) headset, cellular phone, tablet, personal digital assistant (PDA), navigation system, handheld GPS system, or other such device. For some use cases, the client devicemay be a less-mobile device such as a desktop or a laptop computer. Furthermore, the client devicemay be a vehicle with a built-in computing device.

The client devicecommunicates with the game serverto provide sensory data of a physical environment. In one embodiment, the client deviceincludes a camera assembly, a gaming module, a positioning module, and a localization module. The client devicealso includes a network interface (not shown) for providing communications over the network. In various embodiments, the client devicemay include different or additional components, such as additional sensors, display, and software modules, etc.

The camera assemblyincludes one or more cameras which can capture image data. The cameras capture image data describing a scene of the environment surrounding the client devicewith a particular pose (the location and orientation of the camera within the environment). The camera assemblymay use a variety of photo sensors with varying color capture ranges and varying capture rates. Similarly, the camera assemblymay include cameras with a range of different lenses, such as a wide-angle lens or a telephoto lens. The camera assemblymay be configured to capture single images or multiple images as frames of a video.

The client devicemay also include additional sensors for collecting data regarding the environment surrounding the client device, such as movement sensors, accelerometers, gyroscopes, barometers, thermometers, light sensors, microphones, etc. The image data captured by the camera assemblycan be appended with metadata describing other information about the image data, such as additional sensory data (e.g. temperature, brightness of environment, air pressure, location, pose, etc.) or capture data (e.g. exposure length, shutter speed, focal length, capture time, etc.).

The gaming moduleprovides a player with an interface to participate in the parallel reality game. The game servertransmits game data over the networkto the client devicefor use by the gaming moduleto provide a local version of the game to a player at locations remote from the game server. In one embodiment, the gaming modulepresents a user interface on a display of the client devicethat depicts a virtual world (e.g. renders imagery of the virtual world) and allows a user to interact with the virtual world to perform various game objectives based on the game design. In some embodiments, the gaming modulepresents images of the real world (e.g., captured by the camera assembly) augmented with virtual elements from the parallel reality game. In these embodiments, the gaming modulemay generate or adjust virtual content according to other information received from other components of the client device. For example, the gaming modulemay adjust a virtual object to be displayed on the user interface according to a depth map of the scene captured in the image data.

The gaming modulecan also control various other outputs to allow a player to interact with the game without requiring the player to view a display screen. For instance, the gaming modulecan control various audio, vibratory, or other notifications that allow the player to play the game without looking at the display screen.

The positioning modulecan be any device or circuitry for determining the position of the client device. For example, the positioning modulecan determine actual or relative position by using a satellite navigation positioning system (e.g. a GPS system, a Galileo positioning system, the Global Navigation satellite system (GLONASS), the BeiDou Satellite Navigation and Positioning system), an inertial navigation system, a dead reckoning system, IP address analysis, triangulation and/or proximity to cellular towers or Wi-Fi hotspots, or other suitable techniques.

As the player moves around with the client devicein the real world, the positioning moduletracks the position of the player and provides the player position information to the gaming module(e.g., real-world activity data). The gaming moduleupdates the player position in the virtual world associated with the game based on the actual position of the player in the real world. Thus, a player can interact with the virtual world simply by carrying or transporting the client devicein the real world. In particular, the location of the player in the virtual world can correspond to the location of the player in the real world. The gaming modulecan provide player position information to the game serverover the network. In response, the game servermay enact various techniques to verify the location of the client deviceto prevent cheaters from spoofing their locations. It should be understood that location information associated with a player is utilized only if permission is granted after the player has been notified that location information of the player is to be accessed and how the location information is to be utilized in the context of the game (e.g. to update player position in the virtual world). In addition, any location information associated with players is stored and maintained in a manner to protect player privacy.

The localization modulereceives the location determined for the client deviceby the positioning moduleand refines it by determining a pose of one or more cameras of the camera assembly. In one embodiment, the localization moduleuses the location generated by the positioning moduleto select a 3D map of the environment surrounding the client device. The localization modulemay obtain the 3D map from local storage or from the game server. The 3D map may be a point cloud, mesh, or any other suitable 3D representation of the environment surrounding the client device.

In one embodiment, the localization moduleapplies a trained model to determine the pose of images captured by the camera assemblyrelative to the 3D map. Thus, the localization model can determine an accurate (e.g., to within a few centimeters and degrees) determination of the position and orientation of the client device. The position of the client devicecan then be tracked over time using dead reckoning based on sensor readings, periodic re-localization, or a combination of both. Having an accurate pose for the client devicemay enable the game moduleto present virtual content overlaid on images of the real world (e.g., by displaying virtual elements in conjunction with a real-time feed from the camera assemblyon a display) or the real world itself (e.g., by displaying virtual elements on a transparent display of an AR headset) in a manner that gives the impression that the virtual objects are interacting with the real world. For example, a virtual character may hide behind a real tree, a virtual hat may be placed on a real statue, or a virtual creature may run and hide if a real person approaches it too quickly.

The game serverincludes one or more computing devices that provide game functionality to the client device. The game servercan include or be in communication with a game database. The game databasestores game data used in the parallel reality game to be served or provided to the client deviceover the network.

The game data stored in the game databasecan include: (1) data associated with the virtual world in the parallel reality game (e.g. imagery data used to render the virtual world on a display device, geographic coordinates of locations in the virtual world, etc.); (2) data associated with players of the parallel reality game (e.g. player profiles including but not limited to player information, player experience level, player currency, current player positions in the virtual world/real world, player energy level, player preferences, team information, faction information, etc.); (3) game design data associated with a plurality of game designs and respective game objectives and game rules of each game design (e.g. a first set of one or more game designs (e.g., one or more master or default game designs) for the location-based game, a second game design (e.g., one or more local virtual event game designs respectively corresponding to one or more types of local virtual events or implicit social events), etc.); (4) data associated with virtual elements in the virtual world (e.g. positions of virtual elements, types of virtual elements, game objectives associated with virtual elements; corresponding actual world position information for virtual elements; behavior of virtual elements, relevance of virtual elements, etc.); (5) data associated with real-world objects, landmarks, positions linked to virtual-world elements (e.g. location of real-world objects/landmarks, description of real-world objects/landmarks, relevance of virtual elements linked to real-world objects, etc.); (6) game status for a respective game design (e.g. current number of players, current status of game objectives, player leaderboard, etc.); (7) data associated with player actions/input for a respective game design (e.g. current player positions, past player positions, player moves, player input, player queries, player communications, etc.); or (8) any other data used, related to, or obtained during implementation of the parallel reality game. The game data stored in the game databasecan be populated either offline or in real time by system administrators or by data received from users (e.g., players) of the system, such as from a client deviceover the network.

In one embodiment, the game serveris configured to receive requests for game data from a client device(for instance via remote procedure calls (RPCs)) and to respond to those requests via the network. The game servercan encode game data in one or more data files and provide the data files to the client device. In addition, the game servercan be configured to receive game data (e.g. player positions, player actions, player input, etc.) from a client devicevia the network. The client devicecan be configured to periodically send player input and other updates to the game server, which the game server uses to update game data in the game databaseto reflect any and all changed conditions for the game.

In the embodiment shown in, the game serverincludes a universal game module, a commercial game module, a local virtual event setting module, a mapping system, and a 3D map store. As mentioned above, the game serverinteracts with a game databasethat may be part of the game server or accessed remotely (e.g., the game databasemay be a distributed database accessed via the network). In other embodiments, the game servercontains different or additional elements. In addition, the functions may be distributed among the elements in a different manner than described.

The universal game modulehosts an instance of the parallel reality game for a set of players (e.g., all players of the parallel reality game) and acts as the authoritative source for the current status of the parallel reality game for the set of players (which may include multiple simultaneous sessions based on multiple game designs for different player subsets). As the host, the universal game modulegenerates game content for presentation to players (e.g., via their respective client devices). The universal game modulemay access the game databaseto retrieve or store game data when hosting the parallel reality game. The universal game modulemay also receive game data from client devices(e.g. depth information, player input, player position, player actions, landmark information, etc.) and incorporates the game data received into the overall parallel reality game for the entire set of players of the parallel reality game. The universal game modulecan also manage the delivery of game data to the client deviceover the network. In some embodiments, the universal game modulealso governs security aspects of the interaction of the client devicewith the parallel reality game, such as securing connections between the client device and the game server, establishing connections between various client devices, or verifying the location of the various client devicesto prevent players cheating by spoofing their location.

The commercial game modulecan be separate from or a part of the universal game module. The commercial game modulecan manage the inclusion of various game features within the parallel reality game that are linked with a commercial activity in the real world. For instance, the commercial game modulecan receive requests from external systems such as sponsors/advertisers, businesses, or other entities over the networkto include game features linked with commercial activity in the real world. The commercial game modulecan then arrange for the inclusion of these game features in the parallel reality game on confirming the linked commercial activity has occurred. For example, if a business pays the provider of the parallel reality game an agreed upon amount, a virtual object identifying the business may appear in the parallel reality game at a virtual location corresponding to a real-world location of the business (e.g., a store or restaurant).

The local virtual event setting modulemanages player access to different types of local virtual events (e.g., implicit social events) in the parallel reality game. Although the term “event” is used for convenience, it should be appreciated that this term need not refer to a specific event at a specific location or time. Rather, it may refer to any provision of access-controlled game content where one or more access criteria (e.g., predetermined starting condition) are used to determine whether players may access that content. Such content may be part of a larger parallel reality game that includes game content with less or no access control or may be a stand-alone, access controlled parallel reality game. Features and configuration of the local virtual event setting moduleare described in detail below in connection with.

The mapping systemgenerates a 3D map of a geographical region based on a set of images. The 3D map may be a point cloud, polygon mesh, or any other suitable representation of the 3D geometry of the geographical region. The 3D map may include semantic labels providing additional contextual information, such as identifying objects (tables, chairs, clocks, lampposts, trees, etc.), materials (concrete, water, brick, grass, etc.), or game properties (e.g., traversable by characters, suitable for certain in-game actions, etc.). In one embodiment, the mapping systemstores the 3D map along with any semantic/contextual information in the 3D map store. The 3D map may be stored in the 3D map storein conjunction with location information (e.g., GPS coordinates of the center of the 3D map, a ringfence defining the extent of the 3D map, or the like). Thus, the game servercan provide the 3D map to client devicesthat provide location data indicating they are within or near the geographic area covered by the 3D map.

The networkcan be any type of communications network, such as a local area network (e.g. intranet), wide area network (e.g. Internet), or some combination thereof. The network can also include a direct connection between a client deviceand the game server. In general, communication between the game serverand a client devicecan be carried via a network interface using any type of wired or wireless connection, using a variety of communication protocols (e.g. TCP/IP, HTTP, SMTP, FTP), encodings or formats (e.g. HTML, XML, JSON), or protection schemes (e.g. VPN, secure HTTP, SSL).

This disclosure makes reference to servers, databases, software applications, and other computer-based systems, as well as actions taken and information sent to and from such systems. One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the inherent flexibility of computer-based systems allows for a great variety of possible configurations, combinations, and divisions of tasks and functionality between and among components. For instance, processes disclosed as being implemented by a server may be implemented using a single server or multiple servers working in combination. Databases and applications may be implemented on a single system or distributed across multiple systems. Distributed components may operate sequentially or in parallel.

In situations in which the systems and methods disclosed access and analyze personal information about users, or make use of personal information, such as location information, the users may be provided with an opportunity to control whether programs or features collect the information and control whether or how to receive content from the system or other application. No such information or data is collected or used until the user has been provided meaningful notice of what information is to be collected and how the information is used. The information is not collected or used unless the user provides consent, which can be revoked or modified by the user at any time. Thus, the user can have control over how information is collected about the user and used by the application or system. In addition, certain information or data can be treated in one or more ways before it is stored or used, so that personally identifiable information is removed. For example, a user's identity may be treated so that no personally identifiable information can be determined for the user.

is a block diagram of the local virtual event setting moduleshown in, according to one embodiment. As explained previously, access-controlled game content (e.g., corresponding to a local virtual event) may be provided in the location-based game to an identified set of similarly-located players to create viral moments that appear spontaneous to the players, thereby increasing player engagement and increasing the amount of time the players may wish to spend playing the parallel reality game. The functionality for providing such access-controlled game content (based on corresponding game design) may be implemented by the local virtual event setting module.

In the embodiment shown in, the local virtual event setting moduleincludes first activity analysis module, notification module, game design setting module, tracking module, second activity analysis module, and datastore. In other embodiments, the local virtual event setting modulecontains different or additional elements. In addition, the functions may be distributed among the elements in a different manner than described.

As explained previously, the instance of the parallel reality game for the set of players (e.g., all players of the parallel reality game) may be hosted by the universal game moduleof the game serverusing game data from the game database. The instance of the parallel reality game for the set of players may correspond to a predetermined range of coordinates defining the geographic area or space in the real world that is mapped to a corresponding range of coordinates defining a virtual space in the virtual world, and the range of coordinates in the real world can be associated with a town, neighborhood, city, campus, locale, a country, continent, the entire globe, or other geographic area. The parallel reality game instance may be a multi-player location-based game instance where every participant in the game shares the same virtual world. Further, the players may be divided into separate game or AR sessions having corresponding game designs (e.g., first set of one or more game designs). For example, different subsets of players may be playing under different game designs having different game objectives based on different congregations of the player subsets at real world locations within the predetermined range of coordinates defining the geographic area (e.g., town). That is, a first group of congregated players at a first real-world location in the parallel reality game may be associated with a shared AR session (e.g., a group event with a shared game objective), and the overall parallel reality game instance may simultaneously be hosting multiple such shared AR sessions based on multiple congregations of players at different (or same) real world locations within the geographic area (e.g., town).

As such, a first set of one or more game designs (having corresponding game objectives and game rules and game content) may be respectively set for the respective congregations of the players from among the set of players of the overall parallel reality game instance. For example, a master or default game design (e.g., first set of one or more game designs) may be set for all players of the game instance corresponding to the geographic area. In addition, respective game designs (e.g., first set of one or more game designs) may be set for respective congregations of players (from among all players of the game instance corresponding to the geographic area) playing at respective (same or different) real world locations within the geographic area. And the game design(s) applicable to a given player in the geographic area may dictate the game objectives and the game rules for the player of the parallel reality game, and control what game content is provided to the client device associated with the given player.

During game play, the players may operate respective client devices to interact with the parallel reality game instance based on the corresponding game designs and generate game data (e.g., first activity data). For example, a game design's game objective may have corresponding players interacting with virtual elements or objects located at various virtual locations in the virtual world. The interactions may include capturing, claiming ownership of, using some virtual item, spending some virtual currency, etc. Data generated based on the interactions may be transmitted by the respective client devices to the game server as virtual world activity data. For example, the virtual world activity data includes virtual in-game action data associated with an action request input by a user of a client device in a virtual world of the location-based game and an outcome of the action request determined by the game server. Further, the client devices may provide to the game server and during game play under the respective game design, location data (e.g., geolocation data, GPS data) indicating a geographic location of the client device in the real-world within the geographic area. The location data may be transmitted by the client device as a background process at a predetermined frequency (e.g., every second) or may be transmitted based on another rule system (e.g., based on a request from the game server, based on a location update detected by the client device, and the like). The location data generated by the client devices may be transmitted to the game server as real-world activity data. Another example of real-world activity data may be the user performing a predetermined action (e.g., image capture at a predetermined real-world location or of a predetermined real-world object) using the client device.

The first activity analysis modulemay be configured to analyze first activity data (e.g., the virtual world activity data, the real-world activity data) from each of the plurality of players (e.g., all of the players) of the parallel reality game instance in the geographic area. To perform the analysis, the first activity analysis modulemay determine based on the first activity data from the client devices associated with all of the set of players in the geographic area whether the predetermined starting condition of one of the plurality of types of local virtual events has been met. The data corresponding a plurality of types of local virtual events (including respective predetermined starting condition data) may be stored in the datastore, and the first activity analysis modulemay access the data stored in the data storeto compare the received first activity data with the data corresponding to the predetermined starting conditions for the different types of local virtual events that can be triggered by the game server and make the determination.